UNIT-2

ATMOSPHERE & IT’S COMPONENTS

Introduction:
An atmosphere contains the air that we breathe and is a blanket of gases that surrounds
Earth. It is held near the surface of the planet by Earth’s gravitational attraction. A
barometer is used to measure air pressure. Argon, oxygen and nitrogen from the three
main constitutions of the atmosphere. In this article, let us know in detail about the
atmosphere. Atmosphere is not just the blue sky above. The atmosphere is actually several
layers of gases that envelope the planet. The origin of the atmosphere name is ''atmo,''
which means vapor, steam, or smoke in Greek. ''Sphere'' originated from the Greek sphaira,
which means ball. Atmosphere means vapor ball.
What is Atmosphere?
Definition:
“Atmosphere is a protective layer of gases that shelters all life on Earth, keeping
temperatures within a relatively small range and blocking out harmful rays of sunlight.”
Characteristics of the Atmosphere:

 Helps retain the sun’s heat and prevents it from escaping back into space.
 Protects life from harmful radiation from the sun.
 Plays a major role in Earth’s water cycle.
 Helps keep the climate on Earth moderate.
 The thickness of the earth’s atmosphere is about 480 km. 99 percent of the thickness
lies up to the height of 32 km from the earth.
 With increasing altitude, the air pressure decreases.
 The atmosphere has a mixture of gases that sustains life on earth.
 The earth’s gravity helps hold the atmosphere in place.

There is no boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The atmosphere gets less
dense and denser until it “blends” into outer space.
Layers of the Atmosphere:
The atmosphere has five distinct layers that are determined by the changes in temperature
that happen with increasing altitude. Layers of Earth’s atmosphere are divided into five
different layers as:

 Exosphere
 Thermosphere
  Mesosphere
 Stratosphere
 Troposphere

The atmosphere reaches more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) above the earth's
surface. Five layers occupy those ten thousand kilometers.
Troposphere
The troposphere is the layer where organisms live. The photosynthesis and respiration
processes depend on the gases found in this layer. Almost all of the water vapor of Earth is
found in the troposphere. This is considered the lowest layer of the atmosphere, as it starts
from the ground and reaches 14 kilometers up. In the poles, it only reaches about eight
kilometers up. Clouds, wind, and weather elements are found in this layer. Evaporation of
water, condensation of water vapor, and rain take place in the troposphere. In this layer,
the density of gases decreases when height increases. Additionally, the temperature
decreases with height. At the end of the troposphere layer, there is a boundary called
tropopause, which separates it from the next layer: the stratosphere.
Stratosphere
Most of the atmospheric ozone is found in the stratosphere. The stratosphere is
characterized by being dry, so clouds, water vapor, and rain are less likely to occur in this
layer. Although the amount of water vapor is low in the stratosphere, 19% of gases are
found in this layer. Unlike the troposphere, the temperature increases when height
increases. It's a stable layer compared to other layers, so airlines always fly in this lower
layer of the stratosphere. Some pollutants like chlorofluorocarbons are found in this layer.
This chemical negatively affects the ozone layer. The starting of the atmosphere is different
throughout Earth, as it ranges from six to 20 kilometers from the planet's surface. At the
end of the stratosphere layer, there is a boundary called stratopause which separates it
from the next layer: the mesosphere.
Mesosphere
It is quite difficult for scientists to investigate the mesosphere layer. What is interesting
about this layer is that the gases are dense and meteors get burned as they reach Earth.
The top of the mesosphere layer is the coldest of Earth's atmosphere. The temperature is
lowered to -90 degrees Celsius. This layer extends from 50 to 85 kilometers above the
earth's surface. At the end of the mesosphere layer, there is a boundary called mesopause,
which separates it from the next layer: the thermosphere. The stratosphere and
mesosphere together are considered the middle part of the atmosphere.
Thermosphere
The thermosphere extends from 85 to 600 kilometers from the earth's surface. The
thermosphere is called the upper layer of the atmosphere. This layer absorbs ultraviolet
rays and x-rays from the sun. The absorption of these rays results in an increase in
temperature. The temperature rises to 1.980 degrees Celsius. Although this layer is
extremely hot, the International Space Station orbits Aurora, which is celestial light found in
the thermosphere. There is also a line called Karmen found in the lower thermosphere. At
the end of the thermosphere layer, there is a boundary called thermopause, which
separates it from the next layer: the exosphere.

Summary of Layers of Atmosphere

Altitude Range Temperature

Region Important Characteristics
(km) Range(0oC)

Troposphere 0-11 15 to -56 Weather occurs here

The ozone layer is

Stratosphere 11-50 -56 to -2
present here

Mesosphere 50-85 -2 to -92 Meteors burn in this layer

Thermosphere 85-800 -92 to 1200 Auroras occur here

What would happen if the Earth’s Atmosphere disappeared?
Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Earth lost its atmosphere? Here is a
breakdown of what could happen:

 Birds and planes would fall from the sky. Although we can’t see air, it has a mass that
supports flying objects.
 The sky would turn black. The sky gets its colour blue due to the atmosphere. Gases
and particles in Earth’s atmosphere scatter sunlight in all directions. Blue light is
scattered more than other colours because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is
why we see a blue sky most of the time.
 There would be no sensation of sound. Although you could feel vibrations from the
ground you wouldn’t hear anything. Sound requires a medium to travel.
 All the water bodies such as rivers, lakes and oceans would boil away. Boiling occurs
when the vapour pressure of a liquid exceeds external pressure. In a vacuum, the
water readily boils.
 Organisms that breathe air to survive would die.

The atmosphere is described as the air that surrounds the earth.

1. The thickness of the earth’s atmosphere is about 480 km. 99 percent of the thickness
lies up to the height of 32 km from the earth.
2. With increasing altitude, the air pressure decreases.
3. The atmosphere has a mixture of gases that sustains life on earth.
4. The earth’s gravity helps hold the atmosphere in place.
5. The major role of the atmosphere is to contain the entry of ultraviolet rays.

Structure of the Atmosphere:

The atmosphere is divided into five different layers depending upon the temperature
conditions – troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.
Troposphere
 It is the lowermost layer of the atmosphere.
 The height of this layer is about 18 km on the equator and 8 km on the poles.
 The thickness of the troposphere is greatest at the equator because heat us transported
to great heights by strong convectional currents.
 Troposphere contains dust particles and water vapour.
 This is the most important layer of the atmosphere because all kinds of weather
changes take place only in this layer.
 The air never remains static in this layer. Therefore, this layer is called ‘changing sphere’
or troposphere.
 The environmental temperature decreases with increasing height of the atmosphere. It
decreases at the rate of 1 degree Celsius for every 165 m of height. This is called Normal
Lapse Rate.
 The zone separating troposphere from the stratosphere is known as tropopause.
 The air temperature at the tropopause is about – 80 degree Celsius over the equator
and about – 45 degree Celsius over the poles. The temperature here is nearly constant,
and hence, it is called tropopause.
Stratosphere
 Stratosphere is found just above the troposphere.
 It extends up to a height of 50 km.
 The temperature remains almost the same in the lower part of this layer up to the
height of 20 km. After this, the temperature increases slowly with the increase in the
height. The temperature increases due to the presence of ozone gas in the upper part
of this layer.
 Weather related incidents do not take place in this layer. The air blows horizontally
here. Therefore, this layer is considered ideal for flying of aircraft.
 The upper limit of the stratosphere is known as stratopause.
 One important feature of stratosphere is that it contains a layer of ozone gas.
 The relative thickness of the ozone layer is measured in Dobson Units.
 It is mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere, from approximately 20 to 30
km above the earth’s surface.
 It contains a high concentration of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the
atmosphere.
 It is the region of the stratosphere that absorbs most of the sun’s ultra-violet radiations.
Mesosphere
 It is the third layer of the atmosphere spreading over the stratosphere.
 It extends up to a height of 80 km.
 In this layer, the temperature starts decreasing with increasing altitude and reaches up
to – 100 degree Celsius at the height of 80 km.
 Meteors or falling stars occur in this layer.
 The upper limit of the mesosphere is known as mesopause.
Thermosphere
 This layer is located between 80 and 400 km above the mesopause.
 It contains electrically charged particles known as ions, and hence, it is known as
the ionosphere.
 Radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by this layer and
due to this, radio broadcasting has become possible.
 The temperature here starts increasing with heights.
Exosphere
 The exosphere is the uppermost layer of the atmosphere.
 Gases are very sparse in this sphere due to the lack of gravitational force. Therefore, the
density of air is very less here.
 The structure of the atmosphere is represented in a pictorial form.

Composition of Atmosphere:
As per NASA, the composition of the earth’s atmosphere is as mentioned below:
 Gases Percentage

Nitrogen 78%

Oxygen 21%

Argon 0.9%

Other gases 0.1%

Carbon dioxide 0.04%

Trace amounts of neon, helium, methane, krypton and hydrogen, dust particles as well as
water vapour are also present.

The composition of the atmosphere is not static and it changes according to the time and
place.

Gases of the atmosphere

 The atmosphere is a mixture of different types of gases.

 Nitrogen and oxygen are the two main gases in the atmosphere and 99 percentage of
the atmosphere is made up of these two gases.
 Other gases like argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, hydrogen, etc. form the remaining
part of the atmosphere.
 The portion of the gases changes in the higher layers of the atmosphere in such a way
that oxygen will be almost negligible quantity at the heights of 120 km.
 Similarly, carbon dioxide (and water vapour) is found only up to 90 km from the surface
of the earth.

CARBON DIOXIDE:

 Carbon dioxide is meteorologically a very important gas.

 It is transparent to the incoming solar radiation (insolation) but opaque to the outgoing
terrestrial radiation.
 It absorbs a part of terrestrial radiation and reflects back some part of it towards the
earth’s surface.
 Carbon dioxide is largely responsible for the greenhouse effect.
 When the volume of other gases remains constant in the atmosphere, the volume of
the carbon dioxide has been rising in the past few decades mainly because of the
burning of fossil fuels. This rising volume of carbon dioxide is the main reason for global
warming.
OZONE GAS:

 Ozone is another important component of the atmosphere found mainly between 10

and 50 km above the earth’s surface.
 It acts as a filter and absorbs the ultra-violet rays radiating from the sun and prevents
them from reaching the surface of the earth.
 The amount of ozone gas in the atmosphere is very little and is limited to the ozone
layer found in the stratosphere.

WATER VAPOUR:

 Gases form of water present in the atmosphere is called water vapour.

 It is the source of all kinds of precipitation.
 The amount of water vapour decreases with altitude. It also decreases from the equator
(or from the low latitudes) towards the poles (or towards the high latitudes).
 Its maximum amount in the atmosphere could be up to 4% which is found in the warm
and wet regions.
 Water vapour reaches in the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration.
Evaporation takes place in the oceans, seas, rivers, ponds and lakes while transpiration
takes place from the plants, trees and living beings.
 Water vapour absorbs part of the incoming solar radiation (insolation) from the sun and
preserves the earth’s radiated heat. It thus acts like a blanket allowing the earth neither
to become too cold nor too hot.
 Water vapour also contributes to the stability and instability in the air.

DUST PARTICLES:

 Dust particles are generally found in the lower layers of the atmosphere.
 These particles are found in the form of sand, smoke-soot, oceanic salt, ash, pollen, etc.
 Higher concentration of dust particles is found in subtropical and temperate regions due
to dry winds in comparison to equatorial and polar regions.
 These dust particles help in the condensation of water vapour. During the
condensation, water vapour gets condensed in the form of droplets around these dust
particles and thus clouds are formed.
 Stability of Atmosphere:

What is Atmospheric Stability?

Our atmosphere is in constant motion. The rotation of the earth on its axis, together with
large and small scale variations in pressure and temperature produce wind, which is the
horizontal and vertical movement of air in the atmosphere. In this concern will be with
atmospheric stability, which affects the vertical movement of air. The magnitude or
strength of the horizontal wind is far greater than the vertical movement of air. However,
the influence of atmospheric stability on vertical movement and thus on the behaviour of
wildland fires, is equally important. Stability is simply the resistance of the atmosphere to
vertical motion. More precisely, it is the degree to which vertical motion in the atmosphere
is enhanced or suppressed.
Three types of stability:
Atmospheric stability is described in terms of the effects of the environment on vertical
motion. Each type can exist simultaneously in the atmosphere at different levels. The three
types are unstable, stable, and neutral.
In general:
An unstable atmosphere will enhance or encourage the vertical movement of air.
A stable atmosphere will suppress or resist vertical motion.
A neutral atmosphere will neither suppress nor enhance vertical motion.
The atmosphere is a compressible gas, subject to the transfer of energy from radiative
processes and changes of state. There are two fundamental processes which result in a
change of air temperature:
Diabatic - A process in which heat is added or subtracted from the system, e.g., solar
heating, radiation cooling.
Adiabatic - A process in which heat is neither added nor subtracted from the system.
In the atmosphere, a process is said to be adiabatic when the expansion or contraction of
air happens fast enough for no heat to be exchanged with the surrounding atmosphere. Air
has low thermal conductivity, and the bodies of air involved are very large, so transfer of
heat by conduction is negligibly small. We will focus on adiabatic processes in this resource.
Ex: Put a thermometer in a 2 litre, empty plastic drinks bottle and close the lid firmly. Leave
it for long enough for the thermometer to adjust, then try squeezing the bottle hard. What
happens to the temperature? Then release the bottle – what happens now?
 You should see at least a 0.5°C warming when you squeeze the bottle, which then
returns to the previous temperature when you release it.
 Adiabatic Warming As you squeezed the bottle, the energy you used to compress the
air inside is used to increase the kinetic energy of the molecules, raising the
temperature.
 Adiabatic cooling When you release the bottle, the air inside the bottle does work
against the atmosphere outside the bottle. In doing this work, the air inside the
bottle uses molecular kinetic energy and the temperature falls. No heat has been
 added or removed from the system yet the expanding air cools this process is
reversible.
Lapse Rates
The lapse rate is defined as "the rate at which temperature decreases as altitude
increases". For example, consider a small, isolated parcel of air. When the air is forced to
rise (maybe because it has encountered a barrier such as a mountain, or because heat has
been added to it from the Earth’s surface and it is warmer than the surrounding air) it
expands with PV/T = constant according to the Ideal Gas Law, because the pressure is lower
at higher altitudes. As the air parcel expands, it pushes on the air around it, doing work.
Since the parcel does work and gains no heat, it loses internal energy, and so its
temperature decreases. The reverse occurs for a sinking parcel of air.
There are two types of lapse rate:
i) Environmental lapse rate - ELR : which refers to the actual, observed change of
temperature with altitude. The ELR at a given place varies from day to day and even during
each day. The temperature of the atmosphere does not always fall steadily. For example
there can be an inversion layer in which the temperature actually rises with increasing
height. The internationally accepted average ELR is 6.49 °C/km.
ii) The adiabatic lapse rates - which refer to the theoretical change in temperature of a
mass of air as it moves upwards and cools adiabatically. There are two adiabatic lapse rates:
Dry adiabatic lapse rate- DALR. This is the rate at which completely dry air cools as it
rises and expands. Alternatively, a rising parcel of moist air can cool at the DALR if it
doesn’t rise far enough, and cool enough, to become saturated. The DALR is 9.8°C/ km.
Saturated adiabatic lapse rate – SALR. This is the rate at which air cools as it rises and
expands when condensation is taking place, releasing latent heat into the air. The SALR is
very dependent on pressure and temperature, and typically ranges from 3 °C/km to 9.78
°C/km in the atmosphere. The SALR is sometimes called the moist adiabatic lapse rate.
Mount Everest is 8850m high. If the temperature at sea level at this latitude is 30°C, then,
assuming a lapse rate of 6.49 °C/km, the temperature at the top of the mountain would be
-27°C!
Temperature profile (atmosphere):
A temperature profile is how temperature of something changes as a function of distance.
In atmospheric sciences, the temperature profile of the atmosphere is how the
temperature of the atmosphere changes as a function of altitude above sea level. By
looking at the temperature profile of the atmosphere, it is easy to distinguish different
layers of the atmosphere.
The figure shows the air temperature as a function of altitude from the ground (altitude 0
km) up to 35 km. This figure is very useful to understand how air masses are moving in the
atmosphere, and why this portion of the atmosphere is separated into 2 parts : the
troposphere, from the ground to 14 km where the temperature is decreasing, and the
stratosphere from 14 km up, where the temperature is increasing.
Atmosphere’s Temperature Profile
Now we can begin to understand the reasons for the troposphere’s typical temperature
profile. The atmosphere is mostly transparent to the incoming solar visible radiation, so
Earth’s surface warms, and thus warms and moistens the air above it. This warm, moist air
initially rises dry adiabatically, and then moist adiabatically once a cloud forms. Different air
masses with different histories and different amounts of water mix and the result is a
typical tropospheric temperature profile that has a lapse rate of (5–8) K km-1.

If atmospheric temperature profiles were determined only by atmospheric moisture, drier

air masses would have lapse rates that are more like the dry adiabatic lapse rate, in which
case we would expect that the skies would have fewer, thinner clouds. Moister air masses
would have lapse rates that are closer to the moist adiabatic lapse rate, resulting in a sky
filled with clouds at many altitudes.

But many processes affect the temperature of air at different altitudes, including mixing of
air parcels, sometimes even from the stratosphere, and rain and evaporation of rain.
Exchange of infrared radiation between Earth’s surface, clouds, and IR-absorbing gases (i.e.,
water vapor and carbon dioxide) also plays a major role in determining the atmosphere’s
temperature profile, as we will show in the lesson on atmospheric radiation.The resulting
atmospheric profiles can have local lapse rates that can be anywhere from less than the dry
adiabatic lapse rate to greater than the moist adiabatic lapse rate. Look carefully at the
temperature profile below. You will see evidence of many of these processes combining to
make the temperature profile what it is.

If we average together all of these profiles over the whole year and over the whole globe,
we can come up with a typical tropospheric temperature profile. According to the
International Civil Aviation Organization (Doc 7488-CD, 1993), the standard atmosphere has
a temperature of 15 oC at the surface, a lapse rate of 6.5 oC km–1 from 0 km to 11 km, a
zero lapse rate from 11 km to 20 km, and a lapse rate of –1 oC km–1 from 20 km to 32 km
in the stratosphere (i.e., temperature increases with height). Even though this standard
profile is a good representation of a globally averaged profile, it is unlikely that such a
temperature profile was ever seen with a radiosonde.
Combining knowledge of stability along with the knowledge of moist processes enables us
to understand the behavior of clouds in the atmosphere. The following picture of water
vapor released from a cooling tower at the Three-Mile Island nuclear reactor near
Harrisburg, PA shows the water vapor quickly condensing to form a cloud. The cloud
ascends, but then reaches a level at which its density matches the density of the
surrounding air, the Equilibrium Level (EL). It still has kinetic energy, so keeps rising but
increasingly slowly as its density becomes greater and greater than its surroundings. It then
descends again, oscillating about the equilibrium level until it eventually settles there. The
cloud then begins to spread out.

Distribution of Temperature in the Earth’s Atmosphere

The interaction of insolation with the atmosphere and the earth’s surface creates heat,
which is measured in terms of temperature. While heat represents the molecular
movement of particles comprising a substance, temperature is the measurement in degrees
of how hot (or cold) a thing (or a place) is. The distribution of temperature varies
both horizontally and vertically.
Heat and Temperature
 Temperature indicates the relative degree of heat of a substance.
 Heat is the energy that makes things or objects hot, while temperature measures the
intensity of heat.
  Heat (energy) is the total kinetic energy of all the atoms in a substance. The more
atoms present, the greater the heat.
 Temperature represents the average kinetic energy of the atoms in a substance. A
few atoms with rapid motion will have a higher temperature than many atoms with
slow motion.
 Although quite distinct from each other, yet heat and temperature are closely related
because gain or loss of heat is necessary to raise or lower the temperature.
 The movement of heat depends upon the temperature difference between two
bodies.
 Heat always moves from a body of higher temperature to that of lower temperature.
 Primarily, it is measured in the kelvin (K) unit in the study of physical sciences.
 Therefore, the temperature is most commonly measured in Celsius (C) or Fahrenheit
(F) or Kelvin (K) in day to day uses. They are denoted as °C, °F and °K.
Factors Affecting the Temperature Distribution
The temperature of the air at any place is influenced by the following factors:
1. The latitude of the place;
2. The altitude of the place;
3. Distance from the sea, the air-mass circulation;
4. The presence of warm and cold ocean currents;
5. Local aspects.
Global Temperature Distribution
The temperature distribution globally can be explained in two ways:
1. Horizontal Temperature Distribution
2. Vertical Temperature Distribution
Horizontal Temperature Distribution
The distribution of temperature across the latitudes over the surface of the earth is called
its horizontal distribution.
On maps, the horizontal distribution of temperature is commonly shown by “Isotherms”,
lines connecting points that have equal temperatures.

What is an Isotherm?
An isotherm is made of two words, ‘iso’ and ‘therm’. ‘Iso’ means equal and ‘therm’
means” temperature.

In general, the equatorial region is hot, and its temperature is high throughout the year.
Generally, from the equator to polewards, the temperature keeps on declining.
The lowest temperature is at and near the poles.
The horizontal distribution of temperature over the globe can be studied easily from the
maps of the January and July months since the seasonal extremes of high and low
temperature are most obvious in both northern and southern hemispheres during these
months.
Vertical Temperature Distribution
 Normally, temperature decreases with an increase in elevation. It is called the normal
lapse rate.
 The average rate of temperature decrease upward in the troposphere is about 6 °C
per km, extending to the tropopause.
 This is also termed as vertical temperature gradient.
 The normal lapse rate is not always the same, but it differs depending upon height,
season, latitude or other numerous local factors.
Temperature inversion:

 Temperature inversion, also called thermal inversion, a reversal of the normal

behaviour of temperature in the troposphere (the region of
the atmosphere nearest Earth’s surface), in which a layer of cool air at the
surface is overlain by a layer of warmer air. (Under normal conditions air
temperature usually decreases with height.)
 Inversions play an important role in determining cloud forms, precipitation, and
visibility.
 An inversion acts as a cap on the upward movement of air from the layers
below.
 As a result, convection produced by the heating of air from below is limited to
levels below the inversion.
 Diffusion of dust, smoke, and other air pollutants is likewise limited.
 In regions where a pronounced low-level inversion is present,
convective clouds cannot grow high enough to produce showers and, at the
same time, visibility may be greatly reduced below the inversion, even in the
absence of clouds, by the accumulation of dust and smoke particles.
 Because air near the base of an inversion tends to be cool, fog is frequently
present there.
 Inversions also affect diurnal variations in air temperature.
 The principal heating of air during the day is produced by its contact with a land
surface that has been heated by the Sun’s radiation.
  Heat from the ground is communicated to the air
by conduction and convection.
 Since an inversion will usually control the upper level to which heat is carried by
convection, only a shallow layer of air will be heated if the inversion is low and
large, and the rise in temperature will be great.

Ideal Conditions for Temperature Inversion

 Long nights, so that the outgoing radiation is greater than the

incoming radiation.
 Clear skies, which allow unobstructed escape of radiation.
 Calm and stable air, so that there is no vertical mixing at lower levels.

Types of Temperature Inversion:

There are five kinds of inversions: ground, turbulence, subsidence, air drainage and frontal.
Ground Inversion:

 A ground inversion develops when air is cooled by contact with a colder surface
until it becomes cooler than the overlying atmosphere; this occurs most often
on clear nights, when the ground cools off rapidly by radiation.
 If the temperature of surface air drops below its dew point, fog may result.
 Topography greatly affects the magnitude of ground inversions.
 If the land is rolling or hilly, the cold air formed on the higher land surfaces
tends to drain into the hollows, producing a larger and thicker inversion above
low ground and little or none above higher elevations.

Turbulence Inversion

 A turbulence inversion often forms when quiescent air overlies turbulent air.
  Within the turbulent layer, vertical mixing carries heat downward and cools the
upper part of the layer.
 The unmixed air above is not cooled and eventually is warmer than the air
below; an inversion then exists.

Subsidence Inversion:

 A subsidence inversion develops when a widespread layer of air descends.

 The layer is compressed and heated by the resulting increase in atmospheric
pressure, and, as a result, the lapse rate of temperature is reduced.
 If the air mass sinks low enough, the air at higher altitudes becomes warmer
than at lower altitudes, producing a temperature inversion.
 Subsidence inversions are common over the northern continents in winter and
over the subtropical oceans; these regions generally have subsiding air because
they are located under large high-pressure centres.

Air drainage type of Inversion

 Sometimes, the temperature in the lower layers of air increases instead of

decreasing with elevation. This happens commonly along a sloping surface.
 Here, the surface radiates heat back to space rapidly and cools down at a faster
rate than the upper layers. As a result the lower cold layers get condensed and
become heavy.
 The sloping surface underneath makes them move towards the bottom where
the cold layer settles down as a zone of low temperature while the upper layers
are relatively warmer.
 This condition, opposite to normal vertical distribution of temperature, is
known as Temperature Inversion.
 In other words, the vertical temperature gets inverted during temperature
inversion.
 This kind of temperature inversion is very strong in the middle and higher
latitudes. It can be strong in regions with high mountains or deep valleys also.

Frontal Inversion
  A frontal inversion occurs when a cold air mass undercuts a warm air mass and
lifts it aloft; the front between the two air masses then has warm air above and
cold air below.
 This kind of inversion has a considerable slope, whereas other inversions are
nearly horizontal. In addition, humidity may be high, and clouds may be present
immediately above it.

Economic Importance of Temperature Inversion:

 Sometimes, the temperature of the air at the valley bottom reaches below
freezing point, whereas the air at higher altitude remains comparatively warm.
As a result, the trees along the lower slopes are bitten by frost, whereas those
at higher levels are free from it.
 Due to inversion of temperature, air pollutants such as dust particles and smoke
do not disperse in the valley bottoms. Because of these factors, houses and
farms in intermontane valleys are usually situated along the upper slopes,
avoiding the cold and foggy valley bottoms. For instance, coffee growers of
Brazil and apple growers and hoteliers of mountain states of Himalayas in India
avoid lower slopes.
 Fog lowers visibility affecting vegetation and human settlements.
 Less rainfall due to stable conditions.

Air pollution

Air pollution is the contamination of air quality via natural or anthropogenic reasons.
This alters the chemical composition of the air present in the atmosphere. Air pollution
can exist both indoors and outdoors. But what is the reason behind contamination of
air? There are many natural, and anthropogenic reasons that contribute to the
deteriorating air quality. Some of these include:
Natural causes

These include many meteorological, and weather conditions that affect the
concentration of air pollution in an area. These include:

• Wind speed and wind direction- wind speed and wind direction determine the
flow of air pollution. A popular example of this can be stubble burning residuals carried
by the winds to Delhi and other northern states of India, that deteriorates the air
quality. AQI exceeds the “hazardous” category in Delhi around those activities.

• Temperature- Hot air is less dense than the cold air. T° in the atmosphere
influences this hotness and coldness of the air. Dispersion of air pollution depends on if
the air is cold or hot. That is why smog is very famous and persistent around winters in
Delhi.

• Humidity-High humidity in the air traps the dust and PM particles suspended in
the air. This makes these particles heavy to be suspended in the air further, making
them fall onto the ground. This reduces the pollution levels.

• Rains- Rain is proven to decrease the pollution levels. When it rains in a highly
polluted area, the improved air quality is very much visible in that area.

• Volcanic activity and Wildfires– When volcanoes erupt, they release various
poisonous gasses such as S8 and Cl2. Whereas ash and smoke are released in case of
wildfires.

• Dust storms- Dust storms are responsible for increased dust particles to remain
suspended in the air for days. If not followed by rain or strong winds.

• Temperature inversion- This phenomenon prevents the air pollutants from

traveling high up in the sky. Instead, they invert the natural state of hot and cold air,
trapping the air contaminants near the earth’s surface.

Anthropogenic causes

Air pollution causes due to anthropogenic or man made reasons are much more
responsible for air quality deterioration as compared to natural causes. Some of these
include:

• Household emissions- Emissions from households play a major role in

contributing to the ambient pollution levels.
• Emissions from vehicles- As the number of vehicles are increasing on the roads,
so is the air pollution levels.

• Industrial emissions- Various toxic gasses and dust emissions are produced
through industries into the air.

• Open garbage burning- Open garbage burning releases smoke and ash into the
air.

• Unpaved or unmaintained roads- Dust and PM pollution is very common when

talking about unpaved or unmaintained roads.

• Fossil fuel burning- Burning fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum release various
toxins into the air.

• Construction and destruction activities- PM pollution (PM2.5 and PM10) are

released when C&D activities take place.

• Mining activities- Unpaved roads, blasting, and dust explosions during transport
are major causes of pollution in mining operations. Aside from air pollution caused by
mining activities, significant fine coal particulate emissions occur.
Role of inversion in Air Pollution

When an inversion occurs, the air near earth’s surface does not mix with higher air,
pollutants can build up when an advection inversion is present. It plays a significant role
in determining the air pollution dispersion and diffusion.

An inversion alters the natural behaviour of air

 Temperature inversion affects formation of clouds.
 An inversion restricts the upward flow of air.
 As a result, convection fog caused by downward heating is limited to levels
below the inversion.
 The dispersion of air pollutants, particulates, and smoke is also restricted
when there is inversion.
 Convective clouds cannot develop high enough to rain in places with
substantial low-level inversions.
 Visibility may be greatly diminished below the inversion, even in the absence
of fog. This is due to the accumulation of dust and smoke particles.
 Fog is very common here as cold air is present near the base of inversion.
 The longer the inversion lasts, the worse the air quality gets.
 Temperature inversion affects rain patterns.
THE END